U.S.-Soviet Relations

In relations with the Soviet Union, President Reagan's
declared policy was one of peace through strength. He was
determined to stand firm against the country he would in
1983 call an "evil empire." Two early events increased
U.S.-Soviet tensions: the suppression of the Solidarity
labor movement in Poland in December 1981, and the
destruction with 269 fatalities of an off-course civilian
airliner, Korean Airlines Flight 007, by a Soviet jet
fighter on September 1, 1983. The United States also
condemned the continuing Soviet occupation of Afghanistan
and continued aid begun by the Carter administration to the
mujahedeen resistance there.

During Reagan's first term, the United States spent
unprecedented sums for a massive defense build-up,
including the placement of intermediate-range nuclear
missiles in Europe to counter Soviet deployments of similar
missiles. And on March 23, 1983, in one of the most hotly
debated policy decisions of his presidency, Reagan
announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) research
program to explore advanced technologies, such as lasers
and high-energy projectiles, to defend against
intercontinental ballistic missiles. Although many
scientists questioned the technological feasibility of SDI
and economists pointed to the extraordinary sums of money
involved, the administration pressed ahead with the
project.

After re-election in 1984, Reagan softened his position on
arms control. Moscow was amenable to agreement, in part
because its economy already expended a far greater
proportion of national output on its military than did the
United States. Further increases, Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev felt, would cripple his plans to liberalize the
Soviet economy.

In November 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed in principle
to seek 50-percent reductions in strategic offensive
nuclear arms as well as an interim agreement on
intermediate-range nuclear forces. In December 1987, they
signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
providing for the destruction of that entire category of
nuclear weapons. By then, the Soviet Union seemed a less
menacing adversary. Reagan could take much of the credit
for a greatly diminished Cold War, but as his
administration ended, almost no one realized just how shaky
the USSR had become.